WATCH OUR PREVIEW FOR WOLVES V WEST HAM
TEAM NEWS
West Ham could recall goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, who was an unused substitute against Freiburg in the Europa League after missing the previous two games with a wrist injury.Edson Alvarez was substituted during Thursday’s match because of a hip issue and will be monitored.
Wolves boss Gary O’Neil hopes to have Rayan Ait-Nouri back in contention following an ankle injury although it is too soon for Pedro Neto. He has reported no new fitness concerns among his squad.
GARY O'NEIL PRESS CONFERENCE
He spoke of his delight at Hwang Hee-chan’s new contract: “The way Channy has performed this season has helped us improve and long may that continue.”
He has backed the forward to score 15-20 goals a season: “If he continues his work and his understanding and manages to be as clinical as he has, there is no reason why he can’t.”
O’Neil is confident Pedro Neto will feature before Christmas: “I’m hopeful he will be in the squad for some part of the next two games.”
Rayan Ait-Nouri is also on course to return after overcoming an ankle injury.
On players like Hwang and Ait-Nouri missing in January for thee Asian Cup and Africa Cup of Nations: “The plan will be to do as well as we can when they are gone and when they are back welcome them back and try to do as well as we can again.”
He said signings will not be made in January specifically to cover their absence: “You can’t sign players to cover for five or six weeks. We’ll do the business we already planned to do in January whatever that may be and deal with the fact we may be without a few for a short period of time.”
He added: “We will be looking to add to the group if we can but how much or where, there is nothing to tell you at the moment.”
O’Neil praised Craig Dawson as he prepares to face his former club: “He’s one of the solid ones where you know you can write his name down and he’s going to get to the weekend in a good state and he’s going to come through the game giving all he can.”
He added: “Real low maintenance with real high output. Delighted with how well he has done and hopefully we can keep him going at this level for as long as possible.”
MATCH STATS & FACTS
Head-to-head
- West Ham have won each of their last three Premier League home matches against Wolves.
- Wolves won their first four league games versus the Hammers after returning to the top flight in 2018 but have lost four of the subsequent six meetings.
West Ham United
- The Hammers have gone nine consecutive league fixtures without a clean sheet since beating Sheffield United 2-0 in September.
- This will be West Ham’s 50th Premier League game on a Sunday since August 2021, 13 more than any other club. It accounts for 54% of their top-flight matches during that period.
- David Moyes is at risk of losing a 239th Premier League game, which would be an outright record for a manager.
- Moyes has lost just one of his eight top-flight home matches against Wolves (W5, D2).
- A Jarrod Bowen goal would take him to double figures in his 16th Premier League game of the season – the only Hammer to reach 10 in fewer appearances was John Hartson in 1997-98.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Wolves are winless in 13 Premier League matches in London since beating Tottenham 2-0 in February 2022 (D3, L10).
- They are without a victory in their past 10 league games played on a Sunday (D3, L7), losing their last six such fixtures when away from home.
- Gary O’Neil’s side have scored in 15 consecutive Premier League matches since losing 1-0 at Manchester United in their opening game of the season. The streak is three short of the club record set in 2019.
- Wolves and Crystal Palace are the only sides yet score a top-flight goal from outside the penalty area in 2023-24.
- Their only clean sheet in 24 away league games came in August’s 1-0 win at Everton.
- Matheus Cunha has scored or assisted in each of his past five Premier League appearances, equalling his total number of goal involvements from his first 28 games in the division.
- Hwang Hee-chan has eight goals in 16 league games this season, equalling his combined total for his first two seasons at the club.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Chris Kavanagh. Assistants: Simon Bennett, Dan Robathan. Fourth official: Graham Scott. VAR: Jarred Gillett. Assistant VAR: Darren Cann.
MATCH INFO
The match takes place on Sunday 17th November at the London Stadium with a 2pm kick off time. The match will be shown live on SkySports in the UK.